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FS 40/1, [1] - Handwritten letter from Schenker to Salzer, dated February 8, 1930



Sehr geehrter Herr Doktor! 1

Wir danken herzlich für Ihre frdl. Einladung u. wollen ihr mit Vergnügen Folge leisten. 2 Da meine Vorfahren, ich meine die Herren, die am eigentlichen Aufführungsabend das Oktett zuerst hören werden, 3 wirklich keinerlei Urteil in rebus musicae 4 haben, wird es mir leicht fallen, am 17.2 noch völlig „unbeeinflußt“ zu bleiben u. ganz unbefangen zuzuhören! 5 Übrigens hat jedes Werk einen Vorrang vor dem gesprochenen Wort.


Mit besten Empfehlungen von uns Beiden[corr.]
Ihr ergb
[signed:] H Schenker

8.2.30

© Transcription Hedi Siegel, 2010

We thank you warmly for your cordial invitation and are pleased to accept it. 2 Since my forerunners, I mean the gentlemen who will hear the Octet on the evening of the actual first performance, 3 really have no judgement whatever in rebus musicae, 4 I will quite easily still remain totally "unbiased" on February 17 and listen completely without prejudice! 5 Besides, every work takes precedence over the spoken word.


With best regards from us both,
Yours truly,
[signed:] H. Schenker

February 8, 1930

© Translation Hedi Siegel, 2010


Sehr geehrter Herr Doktor! 1

Wir danken herzlich für Ihre frdl. Einladung u. wollen ihr mit Vergnügen Folge leisten. 2 Da meine Vorfahren, ich meine die Herren, die am eigentlichen Aufführungsabend das Oktett zuerst hören werden, 3 wirklich keinerlei Urteil in rebus musicae 4 haben, wird es mir leicht fallen, am 17.2 noch völlig „unbeeinflußt“ zu bleiben u. ganz unbefangen zuzuhören! 5 Übrigens hat jedes Werk einen Vorrang vor dem gesprochenen Wort.


Mit besten Empfehlungen von uns Beiden[corr.]
Ihr ergb
[signed:] H Schenker

8.2.30

© Transcription Hedi Siegel, 2010

We thank you warmly for your cordial invitation and are pleased to accept it. 2 Since my forerunners, I mean the gentlemen who will hear the Octet on the evening of the actual first performance, 3 really have no judgement whatever in rebus musicae, 4 I will quite easily still remain totally "unbiased" on February 17 and listen completely without prejudice! 5 Besides, every work takes precedence over the spoken word.


With best regards from us both,
Yours truly,
[signed:] H. Schenker

February 8, 1930

© Translation Hedi Siegel, 2010

Footnotes

1 Writing of this letter is recorded in Schenker's diary at OJ 4/3, p. 3439, February 8, 1930: "An Salzer (Br.): wir werden am 17. erscheinen." (To Salzer (letter): we will turn up on the 17th.").

2 Schenker’s diary at OJ 4/3, p. 3439, February 7, 1930, records: "Dr Salzer ladet für den 17. um 5h ein." ("Dr. Salzer extends an invitation for the 17th at 5 o’clock.") The invitation was for a performance of Hans Weisse’s Octet (for clarinet, horn, bassoon, two violins, viola, cello, and contrabass) that was to take place at Salzer’s apartment (Maxingstrasse 12/II). The manuscript score of the Octet, dated 1929, is available online at the Hans Weisse Digital Archive (HWEA), University of North Texas, http://weisse.music.unt.edu/content/octet.

3 The earlier performance of Weisse’s Octet had taken place on February 14, 1930, also at Salzer’s apartment. Guido Adler and Josef Marx were among those who attended; Salzer’s letters of invitation to Adler (UG, Guido Adler Collection, MS 769, Box 31) and Weisse's letter to Marx (ÖNB MS 871/17 1) have survived. Also preserved is a letter Weisse wrote to Adler on February 1, 1930, regarding Salzer’s forthcoming invitation (UG, Guido Adler Collection, MS 769, Box 35), which begins: "Am 14. Februar wird bei meinem Schüler Dr. Felix Salzer ein Oktett von mir zum ersten Mal aufgeführt. Zweck dieser Aufführung in privatem Kreise ist, den hervorragenden Persönlichkeiten auf dem Gebiete der Musik Gelegenheit zu geben, dieses Werk zu hören. […]" ("On February 14, at the home of my pupil Dr. Felix Salzer, an Octet of mine will be performed for the first time. The purpose of this private performance is to give the leading figures in the field of music the opportunity to hear this work. […]") The Octet received its first public performance on March 13, 1930, at the Kleine Musikvereinssaal (letter from Weisse to Schenker, OJ 15/16 [63], March 3, 1930).

4 Lat.: "in matters musical."

5 Schenker gives his impressions of the Octet in a long diary entry at OJ 4/3, pp. 3441-3443, February 17, 1930, partially transcribed in Hellmut Federhofer, Heinrich Schenker nach Tagebüchern und Briefen … (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1985), pp. 121–22. He records that he was seated next to "der einarmige Wittgenstein" ("the one-armed Wittgenstein"), Salzer’s uncle, the pianist Paul Wittgenstein.

Commentary

Format
1p letter, horizontal format, holograph message and signature
Provenance
Salzer, Felix (document date-1986)--the Felix Salzer estate (1986-2001)--New York Public Library(2001--)
Rights Holder
Heirs of Heinrich Schenker, in the public domain; published with the kind permission.
License
Permission to publish granted by the Estate of Hedwig Salzer, December 21, 2004. All reasonable steps have been taken to locate the heirs of Heinrich Schenker. Any claim to intellectual rights on this document should be addressed to the Schenker Documents Online, at schenkercorrespondence [at] mus (dot) cam (dot) ac (dot) uk

Digital version created: 2011-10-31
Last updated: 2011-10-31